New Years at EPCOT - won't do this again!

[ADP]

We were at EPCOT last year for NYE. I agree with the op...We won't be doing it again. I thought the fireworks were very good though. They did regular Illuminations, the holdiay tag with Walter Cronkite, and then a New Years tag with fireworks over each country and that country's music. It was very well done.

 

[db78]

We were at the World Dec. 27 through Jan. 3rd. Took a friend, it was her first visit. Went to Epcot for NYE; I would say it was the most crowded we have ever seen and we've been to Epcot on NYE numerous times over the years. I also have to say it was the first time we ran into a lot of rude people; lots of pushing and shoving. And I don't mean accidental due to crowd levels; one time this lady literally took her hands, put them on my friend's shoulders and shoved her out of her way. I was flabbergasted!

We did take the bus and it only took us 1/2 hour to get back to SSR. I would never drive on that night, cars are gridlocked.

I do think the fireworks are more spectacular than usual, though. Sadly, I don't think we'll go back to any parks on NYE. The rest of the time was crowded but manageable.

 

[TINKERIFIC]

100% agree. Other than NYE, the parks were managable, but crowded. We are a family who gets to the park at rope drop, stays till about noon then leaves and returns in the evening around 6pm. With this method we were able to ride the popular rides with little to no wait, which later in the day had 70+ minute waits. Next time we are going to spend NYE outside the parks!!!

 

[njmeisje]

LSchrow,
Yes, I'm not exaggerating. Like others have said, NYE is unbearable. We had a really good time, because we had a very laid-back attitude, and made this tip about seeing decorations, etc. But the volume of rude people was extreme. Two men fighting over a seat on the tram from the parking lot into Epcot. People lose their humanity...over what...fireworks? a Fastpass?

Anyhoo.....to each his own. It was worth the experience!!

Diane

 

[goldilocks_63]

I stayed at BCV, and also watched from France bridge. Worked out well with the kiddies......

BUt if you couldn't get BCV or BWV, could you watch FW from downtown disney from SSR. Last year there was pool party, and we went to FW viewing area, and that was fun too.

So anyone know if there where FW at DD this year? and SSR pool party?

GOldi

 

[BroganMc]

So anyone know if there where FW at DD this year? and SSR pool party?

GOldi

No fireworks. Just a party at the HRS pool. That's why we did the EPCOT/MGM hop this past NYE.

Early bird fireworks at EPCOT was a better choice. No NYE tag but you got the holiday fireworks and party atmosphere. MGM was controlled chaos but still cool. I still think SSR's pool party and DTD fireworks show was the best I saw. You could not pay me to go to MK on NYE.

 

[DESTTVL]

We also spent the day at Epcot. We took the bus from AKV to the park with daughter and husband and baby at 10 am assuming that we would have to stay for the entire day. When we arrived World Drive was at a standstill and the bus took a back route to get to the park.

We had reservations for lunch at Chef's in France. We were very surprised that we were given a dinner menu at 11:40 am. We love the pre-fix lunch menu but were told that they were only serving the dinner menu since it was a holiday. Maybe it's me but I don't consider it to be New Year's Eve until 6 pm! Lunch was good but too much food for a noon meal.

We basically wandered around until 5:30 pm when we went to the Fantasia 2009 buffet. The buffet was very good and the decorations amazing however the staff checking you in was totally disorganized. We made reservations for this event several weeks in advance however they were checking in walk-in guests before those with reservations.

Had we not given them a credit card to hold our reservation (cancellation policy was 2 days prior to event) I would have left Epcot mid afternoon and gone to Celebration for the evening. We ended up staying for the buffet and walking out towards the bus during the first set of fireworks.

Our friends went to Hollywood Studios and said the crowd there was pretty reasonable. They left after lunch and went back after dinner with no problem.

In the event that I am dumb enough to be at Disney World over the holidays in the future I will make a reservation at a restaurant in our hotel!

 

[vicki_c]

We went to DHS for NYE and thought it was great! We were always too afraid of crowds to go over the holidays, but it really wasn't that bad. We were also staying at Beach Club.

We actually watched the fireworks from the walkway between DHS and Boardwalk (due to crowds on Hollywood Boulevard by the time we wanted to find a place to watch in the park). It was actually great and as soon as they were over, we walked back to Boardwalk and took the boat over to BC. We were back in our room by 1 AM. We arrived at the Boardwalk dock at the same time as the boat from DHS started pulling in.

We thought all the New Year's stuff looked really fun -- there was a huge dance party going on at the Boardwalk and we would have loved to pop into Epcot to see their activities as well (too bad we had those pesky kids with us!). We may go back on NYE in the future with grownups only! It was definitely more fun than our usual stay-at-home NYEs!

 

[disneystick]

We were there and stayed the whole time to watch the midnight fireworks...then we walked to catch our bus back to Fort Wilderness...we only waited 5 minutes for the bus it was not even packed. So we were lucky...back to our campsite by 12:45.

However, I'm sure no matter where you were on NYE it was going to be packed and crazy....lines to use the ladies restroom was long and average wait time 15-30 minutes.

 

[ont/ohana]

We were also at EPCOT for NYE only left at 11:30 am , went back to SSR swam. met friends at DTD then back to SSR for the pool party at 9PM, no fireworks this year but still fun fof the kids.

 

[SFLTIGGER]

Does anyone know if DHS will have fireworks for 12/31/09? Where do they have them? I have not been able to find anything listed for DHS. Thanks!

 

[The Hope's]

Hi. We also were in Epcot on New Years Eve, but had a dinner reservation for 10.30. This gave us a table until midnight, when we left to watch the fireworks, then returned to our table for desert and coffee. Finally walked to the front of the part around 2.20 am, walked straight onto a bus to get back to POR, and back in no time, We could see lots of traffic in the car parks, but the disney buses used, routes, we'd never used before to get home. I loved the fireworks, but as there were going off around the world, they were hard to see. The dress rehearsal in MK the night before was awesome!!!

 

[CaskPeg]

[qqq

I have got to share with you that Epcot New Year's Eve was our FAVORITE night of the year. Yes we stayed at BWV and BCV when possible...but we also travelled back to Old Key West and Saratoga Springs....but we were probably close to the last 100 people in the park each time we went. We went to several (over 5) such events and always had a blast! Sorry you got caught in the crush...but busing or walking to a resort are your best options.

One of our set rituals was to make a reservation at a really good restaurant as soon as possible...the last sitting so you get a rest, some good food, and down time out of the crowds if its really crowded/ or the weather not good.
I can tell you my husband, Caskbill, and I treasured those times.

Don't listen to others when they say you can get back in once you leave one of the parks....they truly do shut admission once they reach "the magic number" for occupancy. We actually got in one time we drove...as those staying on property are the last ones turned away if the number has been reached.

We tried New Year's Eve at MK and DS but it just wasn't the same there. So we went back to Epcot for our later trips. With all the activities to do at Epcot we had plenty of diversions...just don't expect to ride some of the smaller rides with younger children. Hope you change your mind in the future and give it another try! Good Luck-

CaskPeg

 

[Doctor P]

We rode the bus to and from OKW on NYE and it was smooooth. We were in bed by 12:45 am even after walking to the front and waiting for the bus. The buses use back roads and never hit any traffic (though we could see the automobile traffic jams which were HUGE).

 

[CarolAnnC]

Does anyone know if DHS will have fireworks for 12/31/09? Where do they have them? I have not been able to find anything listed for DHS. Thanks!

If you Click Here you will find the the Dis's December 2009 fireworks times schedule.

Since this is a very old thread, and more information can be found on our Theme Parks Board on this topic, this thread is closed. Thank you everyone..